Saudi university achieves 33.2% efficiency for perovskite/si tandem

Researchers at Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) have developed a perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell with the world’s highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 33.2%, according to an announcement on Monday.

The tandem solar cell was certified by the European Solar Test Installation (ESTI) and now heads the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) Best Research-cell Efficiency Chart. It exceeds the previous efficiency record for this type of cells of 32.5%, set by Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin (HZB).

Tandem solar cells with silicon and perovskite components are seen as a promising, high-performing alternative to conventional crystalline solar cells. The cell produced by the KAUST Solar Centre combines perovskite top cells on industrially compatible, two-sided textured silicon bottom cells. This improves the efficiency as the perovskite top layer absorbs blue light best, while the silicon foundation does so with red light, the university explains.

The team, led by Stefaan De Wolf, interim associate director of the KAUST Solar Centre, is currently investigating scalable methods to produce industrial-scale perovskite/silicon tandem cells and strategies to enable the tandem devices to pass the critical industrial stability protocols.

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